Hanging tubular belt display package



July 11, 1961 w. D. BRANDT HANGING TUBULAR BELT DISPLAY PACKAGE Filed Feb. 2, 1959 dkiiii.

7 in! G O 3 INVENTOR. William D.Brc|ndt BY United States Patent 2,991,874 HANGING TUBULAR BELT DISPLAY PACKAGE William D. Brandt, Penfield, N.Y., assignor to Hickok Manufacturing Co. Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,566 3Claims. (Cl. 206-) This invention relates to display devices and more particularly to a display receptacle or casing for suspending and displaying waist belts.

More especially the invention is directed to a combination belt housing or enclosing casing of tubular form with a belt, and means for displaying the structure as a package.

Waist belts, particularly mens belts, are usually displayed for sale in boxes or by hanging the belts by the buckle from a suitable support such as a bar, rod or the like. A number of disadvantages are associated with both of these ways of displaying the belts for sale. In the case of displaying belts which are furnished to retailers in boxes, while the box displays can be easily and neatly set up and they may be set up in such a way as to enhance the sales appeal of the article to the customer, obviously if there are many different types or styles of belts to be displayed, it may be that sufficient space will not be available for a full display of all of the different types of belts in stock.

In the case where a retailer may be furnished the belts in bulk or, in other words, where the belts are not put up in individual boxes or receptacles, the conventional manner of displaying the belts is to hang them en masse on hanger rods or display racks. So suspended in a group the belts do not present a very attractive or sightly appearance and as a result such a condition may have an undesirable effect upon the sale of the same.

It is an object of the present invention, in the light of the foregoing, to provide a new and novel manner of presenting waist belts, more especially mens waist belts, on display in a hanging position but at the same time maintain an atmosphere of individuality among the belts which will appeal to the customer and thus increase or promote the sale of the belts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel display receptacle for waist belts wherein the belts can be hung up and maintained in a folded condition so that a customer can readily see a major portion of the belt without having to handle the actual belt itself.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel hanging belt display package wherein the belt can be hung up in folded condition within a display casing or receptacle and wherein a means is provided in association with the casing which performs the dual function of suspending the casing and also suspending the belt within the casing so that the belt, even though displayed in a vertical or hanging condition, will not be come deformed as might be the case if it were allowed to rest upon some underlying surface.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a belt display package a fully transparent or partly transparent long tubular casing having open ends and having attached thereto at one end a hanger in the form of an open link which is coupled to the said one end of the casing in such a manner that when the casing is suspended from a suitable support by the hanger a portion of the hanger lying within the casing will suspend the folded belt therein and the casing and hanger elements are further so associated one with the other that the belt may be easily and quickly withdrawn through the open lower end of the casing merely by shifting the position of a por- Ice tion of the hanger relative to the attached end of the casing.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the detail description following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the hanging belt display package of the present invention showing the same suspended from a support member 'and showing the casing portion of the package as being transparent so that the form or design of the belt therein can be easily seen;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the package shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detail view showing the top end of the belt casing in section with the hanger in side elevation and illustrating the position to which the hanger is shifted with respect to the casing in order to disconnect the two or to alter the position of the hanger relative to the casing sufficiently to permit the removal of a belt from the hanger;

FIG. 5 is a view in front elevation of the mid portion of a modified form of casing wherein the major portion thereof may be formed of opaque material but with a central portion transparent or open as may be desired, so that the belt buckle may be viewed.

Referring now particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 generally designates the belt enclosing casing while the numeral 12 generally designates the hanger which is coupled to one end of the casing for suspending the same from a suitable support.

The package may be hung upon a rod, bar, counter display stand or any other structure with which the hanger 12 may be readily engaged or from which it may be readily disengaged and the means here shown for suspending the package is exemplified by a bar 14, a portion only of which is shown.

The casing 10 is preferably of generally rectangular cross sectional form or contour, having the two wide walls 16 and I8 and the narrower connecting side walls 20.

The overall length of the casing may be as desired, depending upon the length of the folded belt which it is intended to encase and the ends of the casing 10 are open as indicated at 22 and 24, these characters representing respectively the top and bottom ends of the casing.

The side walls 20 of the casing are provided at the top end of the latter with the elongated openings 25 which are preferably of elliptical form as shown, and in which the long axes extend in the direction of the length of the casing, which elongated or elliptical openings facilitate the connection of the hanger 12 with the casing or its partial or complete disconnection therefrom as may be desired and as hereinafter described.

The hanger 12 is in the form of a four sided or quadrangular figure which is open on one side or the hanger may be defined as an open link. This open link hanger consists of an upper bar part 26 which terminates at one end in a short bill portion 27 while at its other end it joins an end of a side bar 28. In addition to the upper bar part the hanger embodies the lower bar part 29 which is straight and joins at one end with the other end of the side bar 28 while at its opposite end it joins and terminates in an upwardly and outwardly inclined finger 30.

The upper bar part 26 is bent midway between its ends to project upwardly slightly and this upper part constitutes a hook designed to be engaged over the supporting bar or rod 14 and by the provision of the upward bend midway of the ends of the bar part 26 the hook will center itself on the supporting rod as shown.

The lower bar part 29 of the hanger is preferably straight and is approximately at right angles to the side bar 28 and this lower bar part 29 is adapted to extend transversely through and across the top end of the easing, through the openings 25 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the finger end portion 30 is of a length slightly greater than the length of the elongated or elliptical openings so that the bar part 29 cannot be readily withdrawn from the openings except by a particular manipulation of the hanger in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4. Also the length of the bar part 29 is slightly greater than the overall width of the casing so as to permit a tilting or cocking of the hanger in the manner shown in FIG. 4 together with a lateral or side movement which will angle the slightly outwardly inclined or tilted finger 36 to permit it to be slipped through the adjacent opening 25.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate with the casing a folded belt therein which is generally designated 31. The type of belt here illustrated is one in which ,an adjustment of the length thereof may be made and for this purpose the end portions of the belt designated 32 are folded back and joined to the adjacent body portion by aclasp'33 and the looped portions formed by folding back .the ends 32, which are designated 34, extend through rings 35 which are detachably coupled with opposite sides of a buckle 36. When the belt is folded in the manner illustrated in the figures referred to, there are formed in addition to the loops 34, the opposite end loops designated 37, which, when the folded belt is placed in the casing, are positioned each adjacent to an open end of the casing.

The width of the belt, of course, is disposed across the width of the casing so that the openisides of the end loops are presented to the side walls 20 and at the top end of the casing the adjacent end loop of the folded belt has the lower bar 29 of the hanger extended therethrough. Thus it will be seen that when the casing with the belt therein and coupled to the hanger in the manner stated, is hung from a support, the hanger performs the double function of suspending the casing and simultaneously the belt therein which hangs free.

It will be also apparent that where the casing 10 is formed of transparent material such as plastic or the like, the material of the belt as well as the appearance of the buckle, can be readily examined by a prospective purchaser.

As an alternative construction of the casing itself, the casing may be formed of a suitable opaque plastic or other material and in order to display the buckle, part of the front wall or front panel of the casing may either be completely cut out to form a window opening or such portion of the front wall may be made of a transparent material so as to provide a viewing window through which the buckle can be seen.

FIG. illustrates the middle portion of a casing, generally designated wherein the front wide wall 16 is shown in part as being opaque with a mid section thereof formed of transparent material designated at 16*, whereby a portion of the belt within the casing, here illustrated as the buckle portion, may be viewed while the remainder of the belt is behind the opaque wall and out of view.

In the case of displaying belts of'the more conventional design where there is a straight strip having a buckle at tached to one end thereof with the other end of the belt free and adapted to be run through a portion of the buckle and secured thereto by a tongue or gripping means, it will be apparent that the free end of the belt would be attached to the buckle so as to fold the belt in the proper length to be positioned in the casing and lie completely covered therein or between the open ends thereof.

It will be seen from the foregoing that there is provided by the present invention a hanging package assembly of a belt, casing and hanger hook which can be readily hung from any suitable support and by reason of the novel manner in which the hanger is connected with the casing it can be easily shifted so as to permit the withdrawal of the belt from the casing if it should be a customers desire to take the belt without bothering to take the casing and in this case as soon as the hanger is shifted to withdraw thebar portion from the adjacent loop of the belt, the belt will drop out through the bottom of the casing and the casing can remain on the supporting rod or until another belt is placed therein for display. On the other hand, the entire package assembly can be delivered to the purchaser who can then use the casing himself for storing the belt when it is not in use and in this case also it will be apparent that when he does desire to use the belt its removal from the casing becomes a quick and easy operation but when the belt is not in use it is well protected against disfigurement from dirt or dust which might otherwise settle thereon.

I claim:

1. In combination, an elongate tubular casing having at least a portion designed to permit viewing of a portion of an article therein, an article of merchandise within the casing, means joined to one end of the casing adapted to perform at one and the same time the dual function of suspending the casing from a support and for engaging and suspending the article of merchandise within the casing, the said means comprising an open link member having one end portion in the generalconfiguration of a hook and an opposite portion in the form of a bar extending transversely of and through the casing and passing through and removably engaged in openings in opposite walls thereof.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the said bar portion is straight through a length equal to the overall width of the casing and is shiftable relative to and across the width of the casing for disengagement from and release of the suspended article for removal of the latter from the casing.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the said open link means is shiftable relative to the casing in a manner to withdraw the said bar portion from the casing to a position where the suspended article is released for removal from the casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,863,216 Wordingham June 14, 1932 2,107,695 Geare Feb. 8, 1938 2,578,424 Hart Dec. 11, 1951 2,671,706 Greenbold Mar. 9, 1954 2,690,253 Francois Sept. 28, 1954 2,732,270 Bily Jan. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 531,705 Great Britain Jan. 9, 1941 

